tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post1493803609885919705..comments2024-03-16T18:38:15.627-07:00Comments on Flogging Babel: The First Step to Writing Well...Michael Swanwickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18389836784776252022noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-30808711274070036182017-06-09T07:15:51.812-07:002017-06-09T07:15:51.812-07:00You can always tell when I'm swamped with work...You can always tell when I'm swamped with work. Either I don't manage to post on this blog or else I offer writing advice.<br />thanks you<br /><a href="http://www.gtznb.com" rel="nofollow">gclub casino</a><br /><a href="https://www.golden-slot.com/goldenslot-mobile/" rel="nofollow">golden slot mobile</a><br /><a href="http://gctrh.com" rel="nofollow">gclub</a>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-44750759544327051322017-03-25T15:04:35.557-07:002017-03-25T15:04:35.557-07:00I'm sorry, Mark, but in this (and I'm sure...I'm sorry, Mark, but in this (and I'm sure in nothing else), you are wrong. Being not only unpublished but unpublishable is a necessary step in becoming a writer. And it is a horribly, horribly depressing one. Every glint of light should be cherished and celebrated if for no other reason than to keep the darkness at bay.<br /><br />Unless you're never going to become a writer, of course. But that's the subject of an essay I may or may not ever get around to writing.Michael Swanwickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01708413411146291236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-52833620003167885712017-03-15T14:10:37.582-07:002017-03-15T14:10:37.582-07:00'And, as an adjunct, you must treasure every p...'And, as an adjunct, you must treasure every paragraph, sentence, phrase or word that comes out well.'<br /><br />See, that's almost Unca Mike-type advice. Because that's the bad wannabe writer's biggest problem right there -- they treasure their crap precisely because they believe it's gold. <br /><br />Moreover, the problem is bigger than just Dunning-Kruger playing itself out in the writing realm. Novice writers actually can have paragraphs, sentences and whole passages that they think have come out well, and be correct about that. Yet the structure in which that good stuff resides may as a whole be crap or at least it's not working -- not yet, anyway, those novice writers tell themselves. And so they labor on that project, and labor some more, and years go by and the thing never gets finished. And they might more profitably have abandoned that project and sunk their work into something else that was finishable.<br /><br />You yourself have indicated that you've got 40-50 partial stories and fragments waiting around till you can figure out what next to do with any of them. It's just hard to tell if a thing can be made to work till it's finished and it does work.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Mark Pontinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11988614518618495319noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-77422517958597100402017-03-15T14:00:41.121-07:002017-03-15T14:00:41.121-07:00If you ever get the chance to compare the first dr...If you ever get the chance to compare the first draft of Barry Hughart's <i>Bridge of Birds</i> with the final draft, it is illuminating. He changed the book completely--taking the main character and splitting him into two different individuals, and tying the overarching plot together into a beautiful conclusion. The first draft was fun if a bit indulgent. The final novel is a beautiful accomplishment of fantasy literature. Kevin Cheekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17615258563790520320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-22784926822137423202017-03-15T13:04:42.495-07:002017-03-15T13:04:42.495-07:00One of the most inspiring things I've read was...One of the most inspiring things I've read was a first draft of a James Thurber piece - it was flat, humourless, and devoid of any interest. <br />HANNAH'S DADhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05877455489975811860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-25071331156306039212017-03-15T12:33:48.784-07:002017-03-15T12:33:48.784-07:00Instead of "Go thou and sin no more," sh...Instead of "Go thou and sin no more," should this have ended "Go thou and sin muchly, and then correct/improve/rewrite those sins"Kevin Cheekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17615258563790520320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-32472744178875369602017-03-15T09:39:48.966-07:002017-03-15T09:39:48.966-07:00I have always taken comfort in the idea that the w...I have always taken comfort in the idea that the work that we do eventually show is informed by, and couldn't possibly exist, without the garbage. Joanne Burkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17057853162827210614noreply@blogger.com